The sack master

White having career year at a youthful 36

Halfway through his farewell season and six weeks shy of his 37th birthday, White is playing like he's just starting his career, not ending it.

His 11 sacks, as many as he had all of last season, have him on pace to challenge his career-best of 21, which he set in 1987 for the Philadelphia Eagles.

That was the only time in his career that the sack-master reached double digits faster than he did this season.

He sacked the elusive Steve Young three times in Green Bay's 36-22 victory over San Francisco on Sunday.

"Reggie White is a phenom," defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur said. "Anybody starts to talk about Reggie White, look at him in big games. Look at him in the Super Bowl game we won. Look at him in this game and tell me this isn't the best player to play that position."

"He's a marvel," coach Mike Holmgren concurred.

And, yes, he's still planning to retire.

He feels his real calling comes after football. The "Minister of Defense" will drop the last part of his title after this season and stick to spreading the gospel.

Just two hours after making Young his 66th career victim, White was unveiling his first major movie project.

"Barnstormin"' is described by co-writer Paul McKellips as a "`Jumanji' meets `Field of Dreams' with a football twist."

White will star in the movie, the first big production from Reggie White Studios and scheduled for release in 2000, as will Packers quarterback Brett Favre and, White hopes, Dallas Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders.

White also is trying to get talk show host Rush Limbaugh a part. Limbaugh has been a big fan of White's family-oriented production company.

"There doesn't have to be a lot of cursing and sex to make movies good," White said.

It's all part of his pledge to use football as a springboard.

"I have always said that the real purpose of my football career is to give me a bigger pulpit to reach more people," said White, who drew criticism last spring for his denunciation of homosexuality but has steadfastly stuck by his conservative Christian convictions.

"The mass media shapes our culture. I think we can reshape our culture with a positive message to society," White said. "People get tired of hearing us preach. And the biggest pulpit is television, movies screens and music. That's the greatest pulpit in the country, maybe worldwide."

After retirement, White also wants to help form a religious-based theme park, probably in North Carolina. But that's thinking a little too far ahead.

First things first, like this fantastic farewell tour. The most honored defensive end in NFL history is playing without the chronic back pain that forced his 48-hour retirement in April.

He's no longer bothered by a rare lung disease that sapped his strength last season. It's also helped that he's been spelled during games by Vaughn Booker, who's given the Packers their best defensive line rotation in White's six seasons in Green Bay.

White registered three of the nine sacks the Packers recorded Sunday against Young, who had never before been dumped more than six times in a game.

White's biggest play was in the third quarter when he came off right tackle Derrick Deese's block and dropped Young on a third-and-goal quarterback draw from the Green Bay 2. San Francisco settled for a field goal to make it 22-19 before the fired-up Packers scored the final 17 points.